Washington (EFE).- The 222 Nicaraguan prisoners expelled to the US have received a humanitarian permit that will allow them to live and work in the North American country, said a State Department official.
The official appeared before journalists gathered around the Virginia hotel, where the group was transferred after arriving at Dulles airport (Virginia), on the outskirts of Washington.
Nicaraguans, including political figures, journalists and members of civil society, are receiving different types of assistance to stay in the US.
“Here they have a hotel, food and basic things for a few days and also legal assistance if necessary,” he stressed.
Inmates find out by plane that they were expelled
The US has been “working over the last week” to receive those released “unilaterally” by the government of Daniel Ortega, the official stressed.
“We recognize that it is a positive step by the Government of Nicaragua and we hope that this can continue,” added the US source.
The Nicaraguan Executive stripped the 222 people who arrived in the US capital this Thursday of their nationality. Among those released are former presidential candidates Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Félix Maradiaga.
Chamorro recounts in statements that they found out that they had been released and that they were flying to the US when they were already on the plane.
State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that the prisoners agreed to travel to the United States voluntarily.
As he pointed out, the US authorities made sure before they boarded the plane that “every one of them wanted to travel to the United States.”
Nicaragua takes a step to remove nationality from “traitors”
The National Assembly of Nicaragua (Parliament) approves in the first of two legislatures a reform to the Political Constitution that establishes that any Nicaraguan who is sentenced for crimes considered “treason against the homeland” will lose the quality of Nicaraguan national.
The constitutional reform, presented urgently by the 74 Sandinista deputies who are an absolute majority in Parliament, was approved.
The reformed constitutional article, 21, which must be approved in a second legislature for it to enter into force, that is, next year, establishes that:
«The acquisition, loss and recovery of nationality will be regulated by law. The traitors to the homeland lose the quality of Nicaraguan national.
This reform is approved this Thursday in the first legislature with the vote of 89 of the 91 legislators.
Reactions from international organizations
International organizations, such as the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), have repeatedly called on Nicaragua to release political prisoners.
The IACHR described as “deplorable” the conditions in which the prisoners were found in Nicaragua and their families indicated that they were subjected to cruel treatment and did not have access to drinking water, sufficient food or medical attention.
The United States had been asking Nicaragua for the release of political prisoners for months since the wave of demonstrations that shook the country in 2018.
For its part, the Organization of American States demanded that the government of Daniel Ortega restore the rights of expelled political prisoners.
The OAS General Secretariat, headed by Luis Almagro, considers “great news” that the prisoners have been released from prison, but criticizes that they have been stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality.
“The crimes committed against these people must not go unpunished, and their rights must be restored as soon as possible,” he stressed.
The OAS thanked the US for welcoming the expelled prisoners and considered that the Joe Biden government is “an example of effective political work in favor of human rights.”
Berta Valle: “the fight that was so difficult was worth it”
Nicaraguan human rights activist Berta Valle affirms that the difficult struggle of these years has been worth it, after being reunited with her husband, Félix Maradiaga.
Smiling, Valle, Maradiaga and their daughter appeared before the media concentrated in the Virginia hotel, after arriving at the Dulles airport.
“We are very grateful to God, grateful to so many people who have made this miracle possible and, of course, to this nation that has become our second home,” Valle said.
The activist, who also thanked the press for helping them raise their voices, added:
“We are shocked to live in this moment, but also grateful that the fight that was so difficult was worth it.”
Bishop Rolando Alvarez remains in Nicaragua
The Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN) announces that they will continue fighting for everyone to recover their Nicaraguan citizenship and all their rights.
A political source told EFE that Bishop Rolando Álvarez, from the diocese of Matagalpa (north) and who has been under house arrest since last August, was included by the authorities in the list of prisoners to be sent to Washington, but he did not accept.
Nicaragua has been going through a political and social crisis since April 2018, accentuated after the controversial general elections of November 7, 2021.
Ortega was re-elected to a fifth term, fourth in a row, and second along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with their main contenders in prison or in exile.
Opposition condemns suspension of rights
The opposition National Blue and White Unit of Nicaragua condemns and rejects the suspension of the civil rights of the 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners.
“We condemn and reject the proscription of their citizen rights that the regime has made through the spurious resolution of the Managua Court of Appeals,” said the National Unity, through a public statement.
Likewise, thank the government of US President Joe Biden “for its efforts and for opening the doors to our compatriots, as well as making available humanitarian immigration measures to grant them legal status.”
Also “to the countries and forums that have universally claimed and demanded the release of prisoners of conscience.”
For the National Unity, “the political problem has not been fully resolved in Nicaragua, especially since there are still 38 political prisoners in jails.”